After a couple of weeks, the whole Shire knew of Mr. Baggins return. Day and night, they were flooded with calling relatives, well-wishers, and what not. It was getting to the point where Lily was pretty damn sick of it.

A month after Frodo's arrival, in the morning, Lily heard a knock at the door and flew out of bed to answer it in only her nightclothes. It was Fro.

'Hello Fro! What brings you to Bag End so early in the morning? I believe that Gala isnt up yet...' Lily started

'Mrs. Baggins, I have come to see Mr. Frodo, if he is awake...I'll come back later if he isnt.' Frodo replied nervously.

'Fro, is there something bothering you? Why do you need to talk to Frodo? Why are you so nervous? Why are you calling me Mrs. Baggins?...'

'I meant no harm Ms. Lily, I meant no harm. I just want to talk to Mr. Frodo...'

Suddenly Lily understood why Fro was here. He was going to ask Frodo for Gala's hand in marriage. She took another look at Frodo, and burst into tears of happiness.

Fro was dumbstruck. 'Ms. Lily, what did I say? I am so sorry, although I don't quite understand why you are crying like that...' Fro scratched his head. 'I'll go now...'

'No wait Fro! It's okay...hold on, I'll get Frodo...' Lily laughed through her tears of happiness. She ran into the bedroom, where Frodo was standing, getting dressed.

'Frodo, Fro is here to see you. I think he is going to ask you if he can marry Galadrielle.... oh isnt that great news!' Lily exploded.

'I guess...how old is Frodo-lad? And Galadrielle?' Frodo asked blandly.

Lily thought a moment. 'Gala is 22, Fro is...hold on...' Lily quickly added up the years in her head. 'Fro is 23. Same age as Pippin.'

'The coming of age is 33, don't you think that they should wait a little longer...' Frodo started to say

'Frodo! Where is your sense of love for your daughter and going to be son-in-law? Huh?' Lily said with a little of anger in her voice.

'I dont know Lily, I think they are still too young...'

'Frodo, they've been in love since they were old enough to understand what love was all about. Cut them some slack. Things have changed.'

Lily thought that Frodo was being a little rigid, or maybe it was because he didn't want to lose his daughter; but then again, he always had Alexandriae, so his actions didnt make any sense.

'Frodo, just because we were in our 40's when we got married doesn't mean we have to make them wait to. They're only young...'

'That's my point. They are young. Are these the people they want to spend the rest of their lives with? We don't want them to make the same mistakes we did.' Frodo said

'Frodo, are you implying that you dont want to spend the rest of your life with me? You just said that you don't want them to make the same mistakes we did...Was I a mistake?' Lily huffed, pissed.

'Lily, calm down! You're blowing everything out of proportion! Look this is stupid, if you want Fro to marry Gala...wait, thats it! Ask Gala if she wants to marry Fro. Go right now to her, Lily, ask her.' Frodo said

Lily walked into the kitchen, looking for Gala. Is she still asleep? thought Lily. She found Gala awake in her room and getting dressed.

'Gala, I have an important question to ask you. Fro is at the door. Before you go running out to him' Lily started, seeing Gala inching towards the door, 'you need to answer this for me. If he asked you to marry him, would you say yes?' Lily stated simply to her daughter.

Gala looked like she was going into shock. 'Fro is here, hes going to ask me to marry him?! Oh mother, am I ready? Will I make a good mother? Oh mother, I'm...I'm...scared!' Gala blurted out, and started to cry.

'Oh Gala, don't cry sweetie, everything will be fine.'

'Am I ready?' Gala inquired

'Do you love Fro with all your heart? Do you want to spend the rest of your life with him? If the answer is no, then I guess you are not.'

'I do love him, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I really love him mother.' Gala said through her tears.

'Okay. Tell your father that. Hes talking with Fro right now.' Lily said as she wiped the tears away from Gala's cheeks. 'Go see your husband.'

Gala ran off, and Lily was left alone with her last daughter, Alexiae. She was still asleep, most likely dreaming peacefully. Lily wondered what would happen when all of her children left her. She started to cry thinking about it. Loosing all of her kids was something she hadnt wanted to deal with yet, and now it was happening. She pushed back the hair on Alexia's face and looked into it. She was pretty, just like her sister, but not as outgoing. She had never liked any of the hobbit lads, unlike her sister who was always with this man or this one. Alexiae was different than her sister in that way. Lily thought, She's our last hope for this family; there isnt going to be anymore like her. Slowly and sadly, Lily walked out to the kitchen, happy but sad, for she was losing one of her children, and couldn't bear to watch.